Story originally printed in the La Crosse Tribune or online at www.lacrossetribune.com
Published - Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Judicial activism, clean campaigning focus of spirited debate
MADISON, Wis. — In a spirited debate heard by a few dozen people over the Internet, the two candidates for state Supreme Court sparred Tuesday over judicial activism and dirty campaigning.
Supreme Court Justice Louis Butler touted his signing of a pledge to run a clean campaign and asked his opponent Burnett County Circuit Judge Michael Gableman to do the same. Butler also accused Gableman of running a negative campaign.
Gableman said he was simply scrutinizing Butler’s record.
“I don’t think there’s anything said or done yet that’s unfair,” Gableman said.
Gableman said he was reviewing the clean campaign pledge offered by an independent group that was formed to monitor the race and is led by the head of the Wisconsin Bar Association. Gableman said his campaign would be positive and he “will not resort to dishonest attack ads.”
The debate, the first of the campaign for the April 1 election, was hosted by a University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee journalism student and broadcast only over the Internet.
The candidates took part over the telephone and fielded six questions from callers around the state, another from a Madison newspaper reporter who entered it on a chat room, and three from the “Panther Talk Live” host Kyle Duerstein. At any given time only about 50 people were listening.
They heard quite a show.
The candidates, perhaps venting weeks of pent-up frustration with each others’ campaigns, went at each other.
Gableman, who called himself a “judicial conservative,” accused Butler of being a judicial activist and a liberal who has carved out new rights for criminals with his rulings.
“People don’t want their judges or justices legislating from the bench,” Gableman said. “I will not legislate from the bench.”
Butler said his record shows that 98 percent of the time he has ruled to uphold the conviction of criminal defendants who appear before the Supreme Court. And he denied that he was a judicial activist.
“That is not something I have done,” Butler said. “It’s hard to rebut unless you start talking about individual cases. ... My job as a justice is to interpret and apply the law, and I’ve done so faithfully as a member of the Wisconsin Supreme Court.”
Both cited endorsements to show the are supported by law enforcement.
Gableman, 41, has won support from a majority of the state’s sheriffs and district attorneys.
Butler, 55, is backed by more than 160 circuit court judges, the Milwaukee Police Association, and the Wisconsin Professional Police Association.
Gableman asked Butler why he was saying he has the most experience even though he has less experience as a circuit court judge than Gableman does.
Butler responded that he’s been a judge longer than Gableman has been an attorney.
Butler started his judicial career in 1992 on the Milwaukee Municipal Court. He served 10 years there and two years as a Milwaukee County circuit court judge before being appointed to the state Supreme Court in 2004 by Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle. Prior to being a judge he worked 14 years as an assistant public defender.
Gableman earned his law degree in 1993 and worked as a law clerk, prosecutor and assistant district attorney and district attorney before he was appointed Burnett County circuit judge in 2002.
It will be a while before the candidates appear together in person. Their next debate isn’t until Feb. 25 before the Dane County Bar Association.
The race has been relatively low-key so far. A third candidate dropped out, eliminating the need for a Feb. 19 primary. However, both sides expect millions of dollars to be spent by outside groups in an attempt to sway voters in the officially nonpartisan race.
The winner serves a 10-year term.
On the Net:
PantherTalk Live: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/PantherTalkLive
Michael Gableman campaign: http://www.gablemanforsupremecourt.com/
Louis Butler campaign: http://www.louisbutler.com/
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